TV icon Dick Cavett hosted "The Dick Cavett" show from 1968 – 1974. The Emmy-winning personality changed the face of television and brought a conversational style into late-night.

Tonight, the 10-part series The Sixties premieres on CNN at 9pm ET with an episode focused on the sitcoms, dramas, news programs and sporting events that shaped the nation.

We spoke with Cavett about an earlier era of television, ranging from black and white content to Carol Burnett.

Here are 5 things he misses about television from a time gone by:

#5) BLACK AND WHITE:

Cavett: When I think of the 60's, I know that I miss, strangely enough, black and white television. It might have to do that black and white in movies is more realistic than color – and you realize that as you mature.

Circa 1965, promotional still of the cast of the television series 'Hogan's Heroes' participating in a ditch-digging, 1960s. Clockwise from left to right: Bob Crane, Cynthia Lynn, Werner Klemperer, John Banner, Richard Dawson, Robert Clary and Ivan Dixon. (Photo by CBS/Getty Images)

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#4) THREE CHANNELS:

Cavett: You only had 3 channels so it was easy to decide what to watch.

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#3) LIVE PROGRAMMING:

Cavett: It was bloody live. When Jack Benny walked out, I knew that he was walking out at that instant at CBS ... in Hollywood and I was seeing him in Nebraska – live.

The missing Malaysia Airlines plane probably isn't where searchers have been looking all this time. NSA leaker Edward Snowden says he's a patriot. And Brad Pitt takes a hit at a movie premiere.

It's Thursday and here are the 5 things to know for your New Day

1. MISSING PLANE

Plan B: We don't know where Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 is, but we do know where it isn't. It's not in the 328 square miles of the south Indian Ocean the Bluefin-21 has been scanning the last several weeks. There's even some question about whether the four pinger noises heard in early April were from the plane. For now, search officials are regrouping and preparing to deploy more high-tech equipment.

NSA leaker: Edward Snowden says he's a patriot. The U.S. government disagrees. Last night, the former National Security Agency contractor defended his decision to leak documents about classified surveillance programs during an interview with NBC "Nightly News." Snowden has been living in exile for nearly a year in Russia, where the government granted him temporary asylum after he fled the U.S.

Investigating VA centers: The seat is getting very hot for the head of Veterans Affairs. A White House official says Eric Shinseki is on "thin ice." At least 1,700 military veterans waiting to see a doctor were never scheduled for an appointment and never placed on a wait list at the Veterans Affairs medical center in Phoenix. It raises the question of just how many veterans across the country had to do without medical care.

Poet laureate: A literary voice revered globally for her poetic command and her commitment to civil rights has fallen silent. Maya Angelou died at her home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, yesterday. Angelou had been "frail" and suffering from heart problems, her agent said.

Star struck: A man known for harassing Hollywood stars stuck actor Brad Pitt in the face last night as he was signing autographs at a movie premiere, L.A. police said. Pitt was at the Hollywood premiere of "Maleficent," starring his partner Angelina Jolie, when a man hopped a barrier and attacked him. Vitalii Sediuk was arrested on suspicion of battery.

Those are your five biggies for the day. Here are a couple of others that are brewing and have the Internet buzzing.

–A fowl happening: Nothing to see here, just a turkey chasing a boy on a unicycle.

- Bearly hanging on: A baby panda struggles to get the upper hand with bamboo.